Park Chan-wook’s new thriller, “No other Choice,” surged to the top of the South Korean box office during the September 26-28 weekend, earning $3.5 million from 463,843 admissions across 1,538 screens. The film’s debut marks a significant win for Korean cinema amid a competitive landscape featuring both domestic and Japanese releases.
The strong opening for “No Other Choice” signals continued audience interest in director Park’s distinctive style and narrative complexity. The film centers on Lee plays Man-su, a laid-off paper manufacturing specialist who resorts to serial murder to eliminate his competitors for a single job opening, onyl to discover the position exists to supervise AI testing. The weekend’s top ten films collectively grossed $9.6 million,a ample increase from the previous weekend’s $5.7 million, indicating a revitalized market.
Japanese animated feature “Chainsaw Man The Movie: Reze Arc” followed in second place with $2.5 million from 311,715 admissions on 1,064 screens,bringing it’s five-day total to $3.5 million. The film adapts the ”Reze” arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s popular manga and features the voices of Reina Ueda, Fairouz Ai, Tomori Kusunoki, and Maaya Uchida.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle” secured the third position with $907,483 (116,882 admissions), pushing its cumulative earnings to $38.5 million.
“The Ugly,” directed by Yeon Sang-Ho, landed in fourth place with $671,532 (90,002 admissions), raising its total to $6.6 million. The film stars Park Jeong-min, Kwon Hae-hyo, Shin Hyun-been, Im Seong-jae, and Han Ji-hyun, and follows a man investigating his mother’s disappearance.Rounding out the top ten were “Bread Barbershop: The Bakerytown Baddies” ($386,132), Studio ghibli’s “Princess Mononoke” ($134,317, for a total of $1.4 million), Brad Pitt’s “F1” ($73,851, for a total of $38.7 million), “Octonauts: Above and Beyond - Season 2” ($86,893, for a total of $99,823), “Detective Conan” ($86,221, for a total of $540,446), and “Frankenstein: The Musical Live” ($164,609, for a total of $860,931).
